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Harrell CJ, Smith KR, Mineau GP. Are Girls Good and Boys Bad for Parental Longevity? : The Effects of Sex Composition of Offspring on Parental Mortality Past Age 50. Hum Nat. 2008;19(1):56-69doi: 10.1007/s12110-008-9028-2.
Harrell, C. J., Smith, K. R., & Mineau, G. P. (2008). Are Girls Good and Boys Bad for Parental Longevity? : The Effects of Sex Composition of Offspring on Parental Mortality Past Age 50. Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.), 19(1), 56-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-008-9028-2
Harrell, C Janna, et al. "Are Girls Good and Boys Bad for Parental Longevity? : The Effects of Sex Composition of Offspring on Parental Mortality Past Age 50." Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) vol. 19,1 (2008): 56-69. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-008-9028-2
Harrell CJ, Smith KR, Mineau GP. Are Girls Good and Boys Bad for Parental Longevity? : The Effects of Sex Composition of Offspring on Parental Mortality Past Age 50. Hum Nat. 2008 Mar;19(1):56-69. doi: 10.1007/s12110-008-9028-2. PMID: 26181378.
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Hum Nat. 2008 Mar;19(1):56-69. doi: 10.1007/s12110-008-9028-2.

Are Girls Good and Boys Bad for Parental Longevity? : The Effects of Sex Composition of Offspring on Parental Mortality Past Age 50.

Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.)

C Janna Harrell, Ken R Smith, Geraldine P Mineau

Affiliations

  1. Department of Family and Consumer Studies, University of Utah, 225 South 1400 East, Rm 228, Salt Lake City, UT, 84102, USA. [email protected].
  2. Department of Family and Consumer Studies and Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, 225 South 1400 East, Rm 228, Salt Lake City, UT, 84102, USA. [email protected].
  3. Department of Oncological Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, 2000 Circle of Hope, Salt Lake City, UT, 84102, USA.

PMID: 26181378 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-008-9028-2

Abstract

Using historical data from the Utah Population Database, this analysis finds significant, consistent, but small adverse mortality effects for mothers after age 50 who had mostly sons. Examination of age-dependent effects indicates that this association increases with mother's age. Additionally, mothers who had mostly daughters faced mortality risks that increased with age. Offspring sex composition did not have a significant effect on paternal mortality. Interaction analyses were conducted to examine the effect of offspring sex composition with regard to historical period, residential location, socioeconomic status, and childhood survival. No other interactions were found to be statistically significant. Having mostly boys remained detrimental to maternal mortality regardless of childhood survival.

Keywords: Longevity; Offspring; Parental mortality; Sex composition

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